


two kids with curious hearts, not afraid to break

by dicksargents (wittchers)



Category: Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: Alternate Universe - Library, F/M, Fluff, Librarians, technically set in the 80/90s but you probably can't tell
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-31
Updated: 2017-10-31
Packaged: 2019-01-27 12:10:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,397
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12581596
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wittchers/pseuds/dicksargents
Summary: Blue is at a loss. She likes to think not many things can render her speechless but Richard Gansey the Third inviting her along on one of his many adventures with his friends apparently falls into that category.





	two kids with curious hearts, not afraid to break

**Author's Note:**

  * For [alphardhy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/alphardhy/gifts).



> written for the Bluesey Zine Halloween exchange for the prompt: _Bluesey AU set in the 80s or 90s in which Blue has a part-time job at the Henrietta Public Library. As a librarian, she is responsible for answering the phone and helping people with research questions—and Gansey happens to have lots of questions about the supernatural, a subject Blue is obviously familiar with._ Happy Halloween, everyone!

“Blue!” The shout catches her off-guard and Blue jumps, banging her head, hard, against the bookshelf she’s inspecting. She presses her hand against the aching spot with a wince, barely stopping a nasty curse from escaping her mouth – only because it would look bad in front of the customer standing next to her. But when Cialina appears, looking for her, she can’t quite hold back the bite from her tone as she asks, _“What?”_

“It’s Gansey,” Cialina says, as if that would explain everything. It only makes Blue squint in suspicion.

“And?”

“ _And_ he wants you.”

This is not the first time Gansey specifically requests her when she’s not the one to pick up the phone so Blue knows what she means. Having grown up in a house full of psychics, Blue is perhaps the only one who doesn’t treat Gansey with condescension for all the questions he has about otherworldly things. She has her own experiences, which she has occasionally shared with him, and she supposes that makes her fascinating in his eyes. It’s not surprising he would ask for her, rather than be stuck talking to Cialina about topics she doesn’t even believe in.

But the way Cialina says that, waggling her eyebrows knowingly, makes the double meaning to her words painfully obvious. _“And he wants you.”_ As if. Cialina is so sure there’s something going on between them, no matter how much Blue insists on the contrary, and she seizes every opportunity to tease Blue about it.

Blue seethes silently. It’s a ridiculous notion. She’s never even met Gansey. All he is to her is a voice on the telephone – albeit, a nice voice, but just a voice. In fact, it took her a while to even warm up to this voice on the telephone (he had made a horrible first impression, truth be told) and she’s sure she wouldn’t have bothered with him if it wasn’t her job to answer the phone and be pleasant to customers. It’s a work relationship – if it wasn’t, there wouldn’t be a relationship in the first place.

Annoyed by Cialina’s suggestion, Blue tries to weasel her way out of this conversation. “I’m helping this lady find The Great Gatsby. I think it was misplaced again.”

It’s not going to work, of course, but it’s the principle of the matter.

Cialina, as expected, shakes her head. “Doesn’t matter, I’ll find it. Go and talk to him.”

Blue knows why it doesn’t matter. Gansey’s father, Richard Gansey the Second, is a generous donator to Henrietta Public Library, and likely rich enough to buy the whole town if he so wishes, thus whatever Gansey wants, Gansey gets. And Gansey wants a lot.

He wants to know about ghosts and how to communicate with them. He wants to know about ley lines and where to find them. He wants to know about some forest called Cabeswater that Blue can’t find any information on. He wants to know about dreamers and magicians and people who can do extraordinary magical things. Above all, he wants to know where Owen Glendower is buried, but that, she can’t help him with.

She wonders what he wants to know today.

Head hurting from its collision with the bookshelf, pissed at Cialina for her improper suggestion, and a little annoyed with Gansey for being so rich that no one would say no to him, she goes back to the front desk to pick up the phone.

As she answers, she thinks, ‘ _this is really not what I imagined I’d be doing when I took this job two months ago’,_ but it’s not necessarily a resentful thought.

“Henrietta Public Library, how may I help you?”

“Jane!” Gansey greets her with the constant enthusiasm she’s used to. “How are you? I trust things are going well.”

“I’m working,” Blue deadpans. That should really tell him everything.

“Oh, I know, that is why I called, after all.”

“Right, right.” Even though she’s grown to enjoy her talks with Gansey sometimes, – it’s refreshing to know someone who doesn’t immediately scoff when she tells them what her mother does for a living – she appreciates him getting straight to business. “What is it you need today?”

“Your company on Saturday and, perhaps, your address.”

Whatever she’s been expecting, it’s not this.

“What?”

“Or not your address but a neutral location where I can pick you up,” he adds in a haste. “It could be the library, if that’s what works for you. I’m not a creep, I swear.”

“Again, what?”

“Allow me to explain.”

_Yes, that would be great,_ Blue thinks but doesn’t say.

“My friends and I are visiting Cabeswater this weekend.” _Ah, yes, the infamous Cabeswater._ “We’re planning to explore it a bit more, perhaps delve into some of its caves, see what we can find. And we – well, _I_ was thinking you’d might like to come with.”

Blue is at a loss. She likes to think not many things can render her speechless but Richard Gansey the Third inviting her along on one of his many adventures with his friends apparently falls into that category.

“Would you?” Gansey asks when she doesn’t immediately answer.

Blue takes a moment to gather her thoughts and perhaps stop gaping like a fish, then clears her throat. “This is about Glendower, yes?”

“Yes.”

“Why?” she asks, not quite sure why Gansey would want her to come. Should she trust it? Is he pranking her? Is he being genuine? What does he want with her?

“Oh…” It’s his turn to clear his throat, and when he continues, Blue can detect a hint of nervousness in his voice. Nervous Gansey is not a Gansey she’s familiar with and it shocks her. She’s never known him to be anything but utterly, annoyingly self-confident. “You’ve been a huge help, Jane, truly. I’d like to thank you somehow. Preferably in person.”

Still, her suspicions are not entirely quelled. Gansey _sounds_ harmless but it’s not like she’s ever _met_ him.

“I’m only doing my job.”

“Well, I know but I appreciate it nonetheless.” There’s a pause, a clanking sound in the background, then Gansey’s voice, distant and authoritative. “Chainsaw, no, don’t – _Damn it_.”

_He also swears. What a day,_ Blue thinks.

A few moments pass while Blue waits for Gansey to sort out whatever mess he has to, listening to his voice coming from too far away to be able to make out words, then he speaks into the receiver again. “Sorry, that was my roommate’s raven. A bit of a troublemaker. Where was I? Oh, right. There’s no pressure, Jane. If you don’t want to come… that’s okay.”

But she can tell, by the tone of his voice, that he’s really hoping she wants to go.

And she doesn’t have to. She could say no. This is, in no way, part of her job description. Answering a couple of harmless questions over the phone, yes. Going on some mysterious, possibly dangerous, adventure with a boy _(boys)_ she’s never met, no. And God knows, he could probably use the rejection.

But Blue does like an adventure. That alone almost has her blurting out an affirmative answer – she bites her lip to keep it in.

“Can I think about it?”

“Oh, yes. Yes, sure.” He sounds relieved, like he expected her to outright refuse him. The surprise in his voice almost makes her laugh. “I’ll call tomorrow. Is tomorrow good?”

“Sure.”

“Magnificent. Until tomorrow, Jane.”

“Bye, Gansey.”

She hangs up and blinks a few times, half tempted to pinch herself to make sure that really happened. It feels crazy. She should probably say no. It would be the sensible thing to say no.

But stupidly, she remembers the nerves in Gansey’s voice, and the way he sounded cussing at a pet raven of all things, and thinks she wouldn’t mind seeing more of _that_ Gansey.

* * *

Inevitably, Blue says yes. She’s not successful in making up her mind before the phone call, successively coming to a decision then changing her mind about it throughout the whole day. There are pros and cons, and one minute the pros seem to outweigh the cons, the next it’s the other way around.

Then Gansey calls and she has to decide, and in that moment, she listens to her instincts, blurting out the first thing that comes to her mind.

_Yes._

Surprisingly, she doesn’t regret it immediately, or after they hang up, or even when Gansey shows up in a shockingly bright orange car on Saturday morning, dead on time.

She may not be psychic but she’s the daughter of one and she knows when to listen to her instincts.

Gansey takes her to Cabeswater and the forest is pretty much what she was expecting from his tales, except better. Magic hangs in the air like a tangible force she could touch, and she holds out her hand, feeling the energy course through her fingers down to her feet. The seasons shift around them at random, the fish change their colors, and the trees talk. Latin, which she doesn’t understand, but they talk all the same.

Gansey’s friends seem used to this, attached to the forest but no longer dazzled by its quirks, but Gansey watches her reactions to the landscape around them and looks as awed as Blue every time she gasps or marvels at some new discovery.

“It’s like exploring Cabeswater all over again,” he admits, scratching his neck, when Blue questions him about it. She smiles at him.

Gansey looks just like she’s pictured him: immaculate in an aquamarine colored polo shirt, khakis, and boat shoes, the poster child of the rich and white and privileged. Handsome and hazel-eyed and dimpled when he smiles ( _ridiculous_ , Blue huffs to herself, thinking how unfair it is that he’s both wealthy and looks like a damn Disney prince.)

He seems in his element exploring magical talking forests, like he was born for this, and she feels strangely touched to be accepted among this group of misfits he’s assembled. He says stupid things, like he always does, but she’s more used to that than she’d like to be, and really, she enjoys his company, and Adam’s and Noah’s, too. (Ronan is a different story but Gansey assures her he’s a good guy so Blue rolls her eyes and resorts to mostly ignoring him.)

That’s how the first few hours pass, listening to Gansey’s stories, sharing laughs with Noah, bonding with Adam over not coming from money like the rest of them, and sometimes, when he thinks she’s not looking, she catches Gansey looking at her weirdly out of the corner of her eye, on the verge of saying something before thinking better of it.

She’s unsure what to make of it, and the fifth time it happens, she grows impatient. “What?”

He hesitates, running a hand through his hair while he tries to decide how to answer, then he smiles sheepishly. “I’m glad you decided to come, Jane.”

“Yeah, well… this,” she gestures around, “was worth it.”

“I hope it’s not the only thing that was worth it.”

“Oh, no, driving around in that monstrous deathtrap of yours that you call a car was definitely worth it too,” she says, sarcasm dripping from her voice.

His lips lift into an amused smile. “That’s okay, you’ll get used to the Pig.”

“Will I now?”

“She has her charms, you’ll see.”

“Hmpf,” she says simply, then lifts a stick from the ground and playfully pokes his arm with it. He looks at her, walking side by side, and there it is again, that look. He holds her gaze, and upon closer inspection, it almost seems like he’s admiring her. “ _What?_ ” she repeats, a bit thrown off by this revelation.

He stares at her for a few seconds before answering. “You will come next time as well, won’t you?”

“Oh, there’s no way you can keep me away from this place.”

“Good.” Though her words were teasing, he’s completely serious as he looks at her. “Because it wouldn’t be the same without you.”

And it’s not the words themselves that give her pause, it’s something in the way he says it. She never thought a boy like him would have any reason to be interested in someone like her but she’s not _stupid_ and it’s impossible to miss – the twinkle of affection in his eyes, the fondness of his voice, the hope on his face.

_Oh my god._ Was Cialina right? Does he – Blue cringes thinking the words – want her? _Is this a date?_

She looks around wonderingly. Noah has disappeared off to somewhere, (she questioned it but no one seemed alarmed) but Ronan and Adam are walking a few steps ahead, not paying attention to the two of them but present nonetheless. _It can’t be a date. His friends are here._

But if it was a date, would she mind it so much?

Blue lets the question hang in her mind for the rest of the day until it’s just the two of them in the Pig, parked in front of her house, the other boys having left Cabeswater in Ronan’s car earlier. She turns to Gansey, fiddles with her hands, then, before she could chicken out, takes out a pen and paper from her bag and writes something on it. She hands it to Gansey.

“This is my home number,” she says, trying to gauge his reaction as he inspects the paper. “So that you can reach me outside of the library in case you want to know things not related to Glendower. Like how much does a reading from my mother cost or some advice on your terrible fashion choices or,” she pauses, shrugs her shoulders, and gives him a playful look, “when I’m free to hang out.”

Gansey smiles brightly – not that charming but fake smile she’s seen him don multiple times today, but a real one that sort of, maybe, makes her heart stutter – and tucks the slip of paper in his pocket.

“I’ll be sure to call soon, Jane,” he promises and continues to smile as she slips out of his car and gives him a wave. She’s almost at the front door when he calls after her.

“Wait,” he shouts and she turns, finding a confused look on his face as he leans out the window. “What do you mean _‘terrible fashion_ _choices’_?”


End file.
